Turnabout matrimony
by chloemcg
Summary: Apollo Justice and Juniper Woods are getting married, but what happens if one of the guests are murdered just as Apollo and Junie were stood at the alter? What's worse, the bride is the suspect! Can Phoenix and the maid of honour, Athena Cykes, save the wedding before Juniper and Apollo can say "I do"?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: The rights to Ace attorney belong to Capcom. I own nobody...maybe except for one or two characters in this story.**

**Turnabout Matrimony**

* * *

The lights were dim as a strange figure dressed in black panted heavily, tossing an elderly woman into a bowl of grape wine and watching with a sneer as she fell down into the glass bowl with her disheveled and wrinkled face full of horror and her face was dripping with the wine she had just been shoved into.

She was panting heavily, her eyes droopy as she looked up tiredly at her attacker.

"You...You have to let me go, the w-wedding starts in thirty minutes!" The elderly woman cried, struggling to get back up to her knees.

It was becoming increasingly clearer that the two were fighting in what looked like a very posh dining hall that had multiple decorated cakes and stuff neatly placed all around the room. There was even a very nice couple of floral arrangements on each table. It was actually looking like the prepared version of a wedding reception dinner!

The woman being attacked was a thin woman with long wavy locks of silvery gold hair that seemed very nearly sandy. She had thin cheek bones, her precious eyes were a sweet fudge brown and she had dimples arching the corners of her thin painted lips. She wore a golden gown with a red Rose broach clipped on the white knitted cardigan she wore on top of it.

The figure softly tugged at their white silky glove, and made it snap on their hand. A cruel smirk plastered on their shadowed face as they slowly picked up a shard of what looked like ice and slowly approached the old woman who was so clearly exhausted by now. She even had multiple cuts and bruises on her arms.

Dreading the answer of the question she was about to ask, the woman cowered a bit "What a-are you doing?"

She started coughing out of pure fear and her coughs sounded violent and chesty as she put a hand over her aged lips to try and stifle them. She was by now growing pale with horror as her eyes looked up at the approaching figure.

It was then that the figure finally spoke.

"You, my dear madam Woods, are as frail as a delicate petal on a rose..." They trailed off to allow their ice coated words to sink in as their demonic shadow loomed over the old woman's injured form "...you are just the one I need to get rid of the pathetic weakling of a bride!"

The woman looked horrified upon hearing about the bride, her already paling skin now turning into a chalk white. It was obvious that she cared deeply about the bride and didn't want her to get hurt.

Choking out a gasp, the old woman croaked "N-no..."

Finally the figure raised the shard of ice and their grim smile widened even further. They held the ice shard up so high that the light coming from the chandelier had glittered against the razor sharp edge of the shard, allowing the piece to glisten within that one fateful moment.

The figure's tone went from cold to just plain freezing within the blink of an eye "This is nothing personal against you, Granny Woods...oh, wait, yes it is!"

And with that, the shard was sent swooping down and it didn't even take like 3 seconds until the deed was done and the shard was impaled into the elderly woman's chest. Blood seeped through her golden coloured dress and started to trail down to the floor.

The woman's face was frozen with horror and her eyes were glazed over with no life in them whatsoever.

Standing over the body of the recently killed, the figure slowly sauntered towards the double doors with a sadistically cheery look inside their eyes.

"Now," They said "all I need to do is pin the blame on the bride."

* * *

**A/N: I know that this is a very short prologue and I'm sorry about that but the rest of this will be much longer. **

**I have been thinking about how to play this out for a long time and now I think I finally have a great traditional Ace attorney manner to make this wedding fanfic go right hopefully. I'm already working on the next chapter for this as well as "Rise of the fallen".**

**Now Stay tuned for the beginning of "Turnabout matrimony"!**

**-Chloemcg **


	2. Chapter one

**Disclaimer: The rights to Ace attorney belong to Capcom. I own nobody...maybe except for one or two characters in this story.**

**Turnabout Matrimony**

* * *

Apollo Justice stood in front of a mirror, readjusting his black bow tie for the umpteenth time as he fiddled around with it. He stood on a stool so the mirror could show his reflection from head-to-toe instead of just showing the most of him excluding his feet.

Around him stood Phoenix Wright and his adopted daughter, Trucy. They were both formally dressed for the occasion that they had waited patiently for, the occasion that everybody saw coming but still couldn't believe was finally happening even after the courtroom bombing case three years prior:

The wedding of Apollo Justice and Juniper Woods.

Giving an annoyed grunt, Apollo tugged at the corners of his bow in an attempt to straighten it out against his tuxedo. His tongue stuck out one side of his mouth in deep concentration as he hardened his eyes.

Phoenix, finally managing to tie up Trucy's hair into a tight bun, decided to check up on his former student and he asked with a wise smirk "Getting cold feet yet?"

Apollo didn't look from his reflection but instead focused on his boss's reflection as well as his bow tie and his two thorns of hair dropped as sweat started to leak down his face, dampening his skin. Despite this, he cracked a very nervous smirk as his eyes widened and his pupils darted around the room momentarily before settling back upon the mirrors reflection.

"M-Me? Nervous?!" Apollo squeaked nervously before clearing his throat and maintaining his smooth tone "...Never! I-I'm fine!"

Phoenix raised a brow at Apollo and folded his arms, he didn't believe a word of that to be true. Even from a distance he could see how much Apollo was sweating since his face was so damp and his brows were twitching on occasion. That looked like a groom who was getting cold feet then a groom who was "just fine".

The ace attorney patted the young man on the back as if to silently tell the groom that he didn't believe that to be true and Apollo just couldn't help but roll his eyes.

However, both men looked away from whatever they were doing when they heard a certain someone clear their throats from behind them. Trucy was smiling at the two from behind and she had a leering glint in her eye as she stepped up behind Apollo and her adopted father and rocked back and forth on her feet.

She smirked tauntingly as she glared at her friend with a simple brow and patted his shoulder supportively.

However it was then that Apollo's face and posture went stiff with realisation. He stopped fumbling with his tricky bow tie and his skin turned whiter than snow, breaking into a cold sweat as it did.

"Oh my...I...I'm really getting married..." He murmured softly, only just loud enough for both Phoenix and Trucy to hear him before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he started to topple backwards.

Phoenix and Trucy were ready to catch the groom, fortunately, and dived forwards to catch him just as he was about to hit the ground. After making sure to hold the unconscious groom, being careful not to drop him, they glanced at each other with smirks.

It would appear that Apollo Justice was very nervous indeed.

Trucy propped Apollo up in her arms as she lain him on the floor, smirking gently at him as he lay there without a care in the world...except for the fact that his life was about to change forever and ever, it was actually intriguing to ponder about. She looked into the closed eyes of Apollo and smiled warmly.

"Don't worry, Polly, you'll be just fine." She said.

A few moments later, Apollo's eyes fluttered open and he moaned sadly. His eyes were glazed with doubt and he looked like he could just about die right there from depression and anxiety. He gingerly sat himself up, picking half of his body off the ground and curling up into a little ball, and his horns of hair dropped down sadly on his spacious forehead.

Sighing, the attorney spoke "How do you know? How could I ever deserve such an amazing and charming girl whom is so delicate yet so sweet and inspirational? Oh I can't do this- OW!"

SMACK!

Apollo was stunned into silence when he felt Trucy's hand whip across his cheek faster than the speed of sound. He looked at Trucy's face with disbelief for what felt like an eternity before the budding magician started to speak in a surprisingly firm tone while she gripped his shoulders and made sure their faces were inches from each other.

Grabbing on tightly to Apollo's askew tie, Trucy glared daggers directly into Apollo's kinetic eyes. Her scowl was so deep that it could have burned holes into the groom's subconscious, intimidating him as he shuddered with fear.

"Listen here, Polly...I have NEVER seen such a romantic couple in my whole life. You better not abandon Juniper at the alter because she's crazy about you!" Trucy growled lowly, her words delving straight into Apollo's panicked mind and he stayed silent as the magician pulled away from his stilled form.

Apollo allowed this to sink in for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak again but only for Trucy to clench her fists and glare at him determinedly.

"You are fine, Apollo Justice! Say it!" She demanded, glaring at the worried groom with utmost passion to get him over his anxiety. Her heart was burning so much with this passion that Athena just might be hearing it from the other side of the church.

She looked the man right in the eyes and waited for him to repeat her words.

Apollo bit his lower lip, trying to fight the urge to throw up "I-I-I'm Apollo Justice, a-and...I'm fine."

"Louder." Phoenix ordered, peaking around his daughter to send a glare to the groom.

Apollo looked down in deep thought for several moments before looking back up to face both Trucy and Phoenix Wright with a renewed kindle of determination flickering to life inside his eyes, a little grin plastering across his lips.

"I'M APOLLO JUSTICE AND I'M FINE!" Apollo's voice was so loud that it might have made everyone's ears ring.

Pumping his fist, Apollo cried out while bouncing up and down on the floor "Yes, yes, yes, yes! I can do this!" He sprang on to his feet and pointed his objection finger towards the door "Look out, Juniper, your new husbands coming!"

* * *

Thirty minutes later.

"I...can't...do this." Apollo whimpered as he stood on the left side of the alter, sweat dripping down his face as he nervously rubbed at his bracelet to try and relieve some of his stress. He yelped when he felt somebody smack him around the back of the head and he looked around to see that it was Trucy who was still trying to make sure he doesn't run away.

Apollo sent his own glare to the younger girl before he looked back to the priest who was casually dusting off his white Clerical clothing and taking a small peak at the huge book that laid on a huge book rest in front of him.

The scissor haired attorney just couldn't help but constantly mutter "I'll be fine" to himself over and over and over and over again, trying his best to imagine his dearest friend still alive and by his side while whispering those special words into his ear. He wished he could have taken a fan with him or a window could be opened because he was so sweaty that he was certain that his tuxedo was all damp and gross.

His doubts were dispelled momentarily, however, when he felt someone rest their hand on his shoulder.

Apollo looked right at Athena who was grinning mischievously at him. Her hair was all curly and flouncy for the wedding and she wore a nice Lilly corsage in her long ginger hair that was tied up into a bun with her blue ribbon. Her dress was even a golden colour as she glanced off towards the side.

"Apollo, the fear in your heart is so loud that it could make me go deaf."

Apollo mumbled an apology while he kept his gaze to the floor below, the horns of hair on his head drooping and flattening against his sweaty forehead. He wiped his hand over his forehead and let some of those stray droplets to splash lightly against the floors and leave damp little dots.

He was eventually forced to look up when Phoenix decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Apollo Justice, you really should stop that. The depressing atmosphere will get you thrown out of this church." The spiky-haired attorney warned somewhat casually

...but his facial expression went a tad dry-humoured when Apollo's facial complexion looked greener than wasabi and the next thing he knew, he was retching into a bucket which Athena had on standby.

Sparing a glare to her boss as she knew he wasn't helping much, she roughly slapped his back to try and get Apollo to stop heaving his "Chords of steel" out and she even yanked the groom away from his violent vomiting when she managed to keep the man still.

"Apollo, relax! What are you so afraid of?" Athena asked.

Apollo hesitated on answering but he wiped his brow and sighed, trying his best to calm down enough to talk and not break into a violent puking marathon. He smoothed his tuxedo just a bit and he spoke in a dejectedly depressed tone "...I'm worried that I just won't be good enough for Juniper."

Athena was aghast. Why would the attorney say such a thing!? She could basically hear Apollo's heart roar with joy every time Juniper and him were in the very same room, and this was even before Apollo started dating her. It was especially strong in that courtroom bombing case where he protected her and he tried so hard to defend her in court, but only to wind up too injured to carry on.

The red-haired attorney smiled sympathetically, Widget glowing a placid green, and she approached her co worker before speaking softly.

"Apollo, whilst Junie was getting dressed, I could basically feel how happy she feels whenever she thinks about you. Heck, she hasn't coughed once today and you know how she is! She even worships the very ground you walk on!" She exclaimed smirking, her eyes glowing with a mix of excitement and compassion.

She patted her friend on the shoulder supportively "Now, c'mon. Who're you and what are you?"

Apollo opened his mouth to answer the query but instead yowled when Athena yowled in his ear "YOU'RE APOLLO JUSTICE AND YOU'RE FINE!"

"CAN YOU PLEASE STOP YELLING IN MY EAR!?" Apollo yelled back, only to receive a light tap on his shoulder and he found himself staring into the deep blue eyes of his boss and mentor as Phoenix shushed both him and Athena while pointing to the double doors far ahead.

Apollo and Athena, as well as everybody else in the church, turned to face the double doors. They were all feeling excited while they waited for those two doors to open and, within moments, they both slowly swung open to reveal the beautiful bride standing behind them with her arm laced in Hugh's since he was like a big brother to her.

Apollo's jaw dropped when he saw his betrothed for the first time that day.

Juniper's hair was tied in some spirally curls on each side of her sweet face and she wore a very pretty Rose diadem that sparkled in the small narrow shreds of sunlight that shone through the stained glass windows. She wore a long white dress with a royal ivory veil trailing behind her and dragging along the red carpet leading towards the alter.

Her eyes sparkled like diamonds when she opened them and her cheeks grew rosy.

Apollo's mouth was agape and his heart was beating so fast that he was at risk of going into cardiac arrest...although it was a strangely amazing feeling. In fact he wouldn't have cared if he died there and now, he had everything he wanted and that included his darling angel.

His gaping mouth growing into a warm grin, the attorney's brows softly knitted together to paint a gentle look of happiness on his face.

All his worries melted away when he saw his bride for the first time.

When Junie finally met up with Apollo, both of them lost in each other's endless gaze, barely heard a word of what the priest had said and whatever they did hear came out to sound like faint mumbling to each of them.

"Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to witness the marriage of Apollo Justice and Juniper Woods. Some say that love has no boundaries and others say that love is just a lie to control the weak...however, these two have proved that love is far from such; as, like the law, love is filled with contradictions but it also has plenty of reconcilement."

The priest cleared his throat and started to speak again, clearly aware of the fact that the bride and groom were far too lost in each other's gaze to notice anything else at this point.

"Now," he said "if anyone has any objections to these two being wed today then speak up now or forever hold your peace..."

A silence passed and the priest was about to say something else when a loud voice boomed through the church, startling everybody (including the bride and groom) out of their wits:

**"OBJECTION!"**

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger! **

**Sorry this took so long, everybody, I was just trying to stick to the Ace attorney style by adding a bit of comedy...and what's better then a freaking-out-Polly? Plus, he's my fav character so don't blame me for writing about him a lot. **

**I hope that this is good so far.**

**Please review.**

**-Chloemcg**


	3. Chapter two

**Disclaimer: The rights to Ace attorney belong to Capcom. I own nobody...maybe except for one or two characters in this story.**

**Turnabout Matrimony**

* * *

**"OBJECTION!"**

Apollo, Juniper, Phoenix, Athena, Trucy and everyone else in the church all turned their heads to face the double doors of the room and they found someone standing there panting with their face red, a look of horror on their face.

The woman standing at the door had long wisps of dark auburn hair that was curled up just for the occasion. She looked sort of like Juniper in a way but she was taller and she had much more plump cheek bones and her pale fuchsia pink lipstick was faintly smeared as sweat covered her face.

"S...Stop the wedding!" The woman cried out breathlessly "...G-Grandma Woods has been murdered!"

Apollo and Junie's faces grew pale as the news reached their ears. Everybody was overcome with a terrified expression as they tried to absorb this new information, their hearts slowing to a near stop. They each felt like they had been stabbed with shards of ice!

Granny Woods, Juniper's lovely and devoted grandmother, was murdered!? Nobody wanted to believe it, this just couldn't be real.

Their legs jerking into motion, Juniper and Apollo and company raced to the scene and they ran back down the aisle with haste as they all abandoned their places at the alter, leaving the crowd sitting in the pews in a chaotic state.

Phoenix nor everyone else didn't know they could run so fast and they doubted that they would again. They could even feel their legs and arms become sweaty from the adrenaline rush they were receiving.

They even used every last drop of it to take them to the room where the wedding reception was originally going to take place.

The doors ajar, everyone burst in and found just the crime scene they expected.

The room was in shambles.

Grape juice was spilt on the floors, broken glass fragments were scattered all over the place. Bowls and tables were turned over and on the floor in an improper manner.

All eyes, however, were on the corpse laying lifeless on the ground with a cold wet patch trailing down from her cut up chest and abdomen. She was laying against another bowl filled with punch and her loose strands of grey hair were tangled in the wet bowl. She had many cuts on her wrinkled arms and her eyes were avoid of all life as tears streaked down her dimpled cheeks.

Juniper was the first to react as she dropped to her knees, her eyes watery and her hands slapped over her mouth in disbelief.

"No...GRANNY!"

Upon shouting this, Juniper raced to her deceased grandma's side and clasped her chilled hand in hers. She broke down into sobs as she wept over the loss of her beloved guardian and role model in life, her face nuzzling the old woman's as if to try and warrant a little body warmth to come out and give her a sign that her loved one would just flutter her eyes open and be alive.

Apollo, sympathetic, slowly started to approach Juniper with a deeply saddened expression on his face. He couldn't believe that this was happening: this was supposed to be the best day of their lives, everything was supposed to be perfect! Now this had to happen...

He knelt down beside his grieving bride and pulled her in to a comfortingly tight embrace. He could feel Juniper's tears stain his chest and ruin his tuxedo but he didn't really care, all he wanted to do was just try and take his wife-to-be's pain away. He couldn't even utter any words to soothe Junie's aching heart and that hurt him most of all.

Apollo held Juniper in his tightest embrace as he ran his hand up and down her back to try and ease her heavy sobs.

He didn't notice that Phoenix, Trucy and Athena all stood by the door with equally saddened expressions etched on their faces. They just couldn't believe that a murder had occurred on this happiest of days! Their sadness was slowly replaced by anger as they wondered what had happened here, why would anyone want to disturb this wedding and why would they kill Juniper's grandmother of all people!?

But the worst of this was yet to come...

Moments after their arrival, the others who were left by the alter had arrived and started to scream in fright of seeing a dead body right there in front of them. They started to become unsettled and nervously shifted on the spot as they started to retreat out of the church to avoid any other killing that might occur.

However, out of the clustered group of people, a certain man came out of the crowd and slivered right passed the formally dressed Phoenix, Trucy and Athena and approached the two grieving lovers.

The man wore a rather sympathetic look but he did tap on Apollo's shoulder, warranting a surprised expression from the man as he looked right into the sunglasses-covered-eyes of the man.

"P-P-Prosecutor Payne...?!" Apollo gasped, a look of fear overcoming his facial features as his thorns of hair dropped a bit. He had a feeling of what was going on here, he didn't want to believe it though. He desperately prayed in his head that it wasn't what he thought it was...

...And it was, unfortunately.

Prosecutor Gaspen Payne peeled Juniper out of her husband-to-be's embrace and got her to her feet. The prosecutor turned the woman so her back was facing him and he motioned his hand so two police officers came forwards before hand cuffing the woman up, surprising her as she wildly looked into the scared eyes of Apollo.

"W-What are you doing!?" Phoenix asked, gritting his teeth in a mix of shock and anger.

Gaspen locked the cuffs in place, this restraining Junie's arms and making it so she was under arrest. He looked almost satisfied with this arrest as he handed the woman to one of the two police officers, not turning to face the group of attorney's.

"I hereby place Juniper Woods under arrest for the murder of Maple Woods." He announced, startling everyone in the church as they watched Juniper being led away but only for Apollo to finally react as he jumped to his feet and scrambled to rip his wife out of the clutches of the police officers.

Apollo looked really wound up as he went to get his wife back, only for Athena to grab his shoulder just in time and making him stop. Although it wasn't a strong restraint, it made Apollo stop with a look of despair on his face. He looked dejectedly at his wife-to-be and they shared one last glance at each other before Juniper was led out the doors.

Apollo read that look loud and clear and it made his heart break, her facial expression clearly said "help me".

The groom's eyes hardened within moments after Juniper had left the building, probably going to the detention centre to be detained and questioned.

Phoenix placed his hand on Apollo's shoulder, looking very sympathetic for his understudy "We'll defend her in court...D-Don't worry."

Apollo didn't seem to hear his mentor. He just kept his gaze longingly on the doors his beloved Juniper was taken out of. He could feel his world crumbling down around him, all his perceptions on the happy reality he hoped to have this day was swiftly and mercilessly dashed. He couldn't believe that Juniper was arrested without any rhyme or reason as to why.

He felt worthless without his lover by his side.

Without speaking another word, Apollo turned away and walked out the door. The fact that tears were falling down his cheeks were obvious due to the fact that his chin was visibly trembling and that teardrops were falling to the floor where he walked.

"I...I...I-I need to be alone for awhile..." Apollo said, his tone broken and hoarse.

After the depressed groom was gone out the door, everyone couldn't help but feel horrible for the groom. He had just lost his partner for life due to some monster killing said partner's grandmother and now the poor bride was being blamed for the crime. He hated that his beloved was torn from his hold.

Phoenix and Athena looked at each other with knowing looks shining in his eyes.

There was no way they weren't going to take this case on, there was so many personal things at stake! They needed to help Apollo out, as well as Juniper! They were basically family, and family help each other!

"...Mr. Wright-" Athena started, only to be cut off by Phoenix.

When he started to speak, Phoenix pointed in his Objection pose with a determined smirk plastered on his lips. His eyes narrowed to show that he was going to defend Juniper until the very end!

"I know, Athena. We're going to help Apollo and Juniper, and they WILL get the wedding they dreamed of. They have my word if my name isn't Phoenix Wright!"

* * *

**A/N: Awww, poor Apollo and Juniper. Their wedding day was spoilt by someone. Let's see if Phoenix can uphold his promise and make sure that Polly and Junie have a special day worth remembering. **

**Please review, I hope you liked this chapter.**

**-Chloemcg **


	4. Chapter three

**Disclaimer: The rights to Ace attorney belong to Capcom. I own nobody...maybe except for one or two characters in this story.**

**Turnabout Matrimony**

* * *

Phoenix and Athena still couldn't believe the reality of the situation they were in. Juniper was arrested...on her wedding day!

She didn't do anything to deserve this and she was just pulled off towards the detention centre, leaving poor Polly to be a mess of negative emotions and despair.

Both Phoenix and the maid of honour, Athena, immediately started looking for evidence as they were pretty confused as to what made poor Junie become the main suspect in the first place. They had help from Trucy clearing out the place since the guests were still shaken up about the whole event and were wondering around aimless.

The church was soon cleared and, after the police had finished their investigation, Phoenix and Athena didn't hesitate before starting theirs.

"Now, Athena, we just need to find some hints as to who the real culprit was since it obviously wasn't Juniper." Phoenix said, his finger scratching his chin thoughtfully as his eyes wandered towards the ceiling.

Athena nodded.

She didn't agree that Junie would ever do something as diabolical as killing her grandmother and, plus, Athena knew that both Juniper and her grandmother had a very close relationship since they basically lived together. She refused to believe that her friend would kill anybody, and she was certain that Apollo felt the same way whenever he went off somewhere.

She could hear her boss' determination in his heart and refused to believe that stupid allegation to be true! She would stick by her friend.

"I agree, but where do we start?" She asked, fiddling with her earring.

Phoenix simply pointed towards the tapped outline where the corpse was. It was leaning against a bowl that was probably filled with grape wine once upon a time. The rest of the body outline, though, was sprawled on the floor as if the person the tape was drew around were laying on their back.

The floor was still stained the remaining liquid.

Athena held her breath, trying to keep herself calm as she felt somewhat nauseous.

Kneeling down, Athena examined the body outline tape very carefully as she didn't want to miss a single detail. She studied the body with careful keen eyes as she softly brushed her fingertip along the round facial area of the tapped shape.

She frowned when she saw a small amount of blood just around the chest region as well as the abdominal area. Biting her lip to prevent vomiting, Athena blanched and she put her hand over her mouth as she looked and found something right beside the hand of the deceased's tape drawing.

Reaching for it, she took it into her hand and studied it carefully.

"Hmmm," Phoenix said, kneeling down beside Athena and studying the object of interest. He looked very curious about it as he observed it before he removed a folder and held it out next to him, opened it, and slipped the strange little metal object inside it.

It was labelled court record.

"It looked like an earring or something." Phoenix said, thoughtfully "It could be important evidence..."

Athena nodded again. Upon looking at it, it looked like a diamond encrusted earring. She had no idea what it would be doing near the body in the first place anyway and she could feel her curiosity stirring as she looked at Phoenix "Maybe."

But then her focus turned to something else...

"Hey, look at this!" She exclaimed, pointing out something that glittered out of the corner of her eye. She slowly got to her feet and went towards the object of interest and she walked heavily with a small keel in her step as she was almost bent over. She didn't know why but she felt like she was being watched...intensely...with one of the sharpest eyes imaginable.

It was almost enough to make the red-haired-attorney break into a nervous sweat.

She walked over and bent down, picking up the object and muttered to herself "...It looks like a silk glove. The victim's."

It was true. Phoenix and Athena knew that it was Granny Woods' glove, it looked very fine and self-made. There was no doubt that, it was very precious and pure. Granny Maple Woods' creations were always so genuine and pure.

Athena still couldn't believe that Granny Woods was gone...

With a depressed face, Athena slipped the glove into the court record and she silently wondered to herself as she fiddled with her earring again. Just what was the gloves doing so far away from the body, it just wasn't possible! No...what wasn't possible was the stupid allegation that Juniper was the killer! She wanted to strangle the person who did such a thing...!

Phoenix seemed to have noticed his protégé's anger as he firmly put his hand on one of her tense shoulders and he slowly pushed against it, silently telling her to calm herself and that they would do whatever they could to get Juniper and Apollo married properly.

Sighing, Athena looked at her boss and avoided eye contact. She knew that the ace attorney was probably a bit on edge with what was going on and she didn't dare say anything to make him feel hurt in anyway.

The two lawyers stayed quiet for several moments before a light tap broke them up from their silent seething in anger. Phoenix and Athena both looked up to see who had disrupted their moment of silence and they were met with the face of the woman who had disturbed the wedding ceremony initially.

"U-Um, excuse me? I was wondering if I could talk to you...?" She sounded meek and timid, quite understandable for someone who had discovered a body.

That's what they hoped she was since everyone else, excluding one or two guests, were actually at the ceremony.

The woman looked at both Athena and Phoenix with genuine worry in her eyes as she asked "A-Are you going to defend Juniper? P-Please, if you are, let me help!"

Athena and Phoenix were shocked. This woman seemed determined to help out and quite genuinely at that. She seemed seriously worried about the welfare of Juniper and because of this, Athena just couldn't help but inquire something about it.

"You're Junie's cousin, am I right?" She asked, using a soft tone of voice.

The woman nodded "Y-Yes...I'm Alicia Woods."

Phoenix cleared his throat, starting to sound like a professional as he softly glared at her with his hand in his trouser pocket for whatever reason. Athena looked at her boss with curious eyes as she watched the exchange between witness and attorney at law.

She could basically hear the mix of confusion and fear inside Phoenix's heart as the man with spiky hair simply chatted to her about the crime, his voice sounding somewhat dull inside her special ears.

She couldn't help but narrow her eyes skeptically as she knew that her boss must have noticed something pretty quick if he had noticed what she thought he had noticed.

"...Tell me, mrs. Alicia Woods, do you know who killed Grandma Woods?" He asked, his demanding tone smoothly disgusted as a questioning one as he kept his eyes on her without blinking once. His fingers tightened around a certain comma-shaped jewel in his pocket as he asked this simple yet important query.

Alicia shook her head, clearly confused. "No. I d-don't know."

Athena noticed her boss' eyes narrow instantly after she answered that and she could tell that he only looked like this when...! She knew exactly what was happening and she could feel surprise build up inside her heart...but then she noticed something about the woman they were speaking with, something that she found seriously confusing...

Phoenix seemed to nod slowly after a long pause and he dismissed her with a tone in his voice that seemed skeptically low and dangerous.

Athena looked at Phoenix with wide eyes, deciding to confirm her suspicions now "B-Boss, did you-?"

Phoenix nodded his head.

He wore a grim expression on his face as he looked Athena right in the eyes, his heart filling up with fear now as it built up. He fear in Phoenix's heart was slowly breeding and multiplying and it was a phenomenon that intimidated Athena so much that she was almost ready to collapse to the ground with her own amount of fear that started to build up inside her heart.

The spiky-haired attorney swallowed and confirmed Athena's suspicions "Yes. I saw three psyche locks..."

Athena was beyond shocked. Didn't this lady want to help them!? Why was she keeping secrets from them so much after that...?

"...C'mon then."

But, before she could tell Phoenix on her discovery, the both of them were shocked upon hearing a voice come from directly behind them. They both turned and they were shocked upon realizing that it was actually Apollo whom walked up to the both of them with his cheeks tear stained and his tone carried no-nonsense.

Apollo didn't really acknowledge them as he pushed passed them and walked out of the church, not waiting for either of them as he continued "Lets go see, Juniper. The questioning session should be over by now..."

Upon looking closely, Athena noticed that Apollo held something in his grip. She didn't see it very much on account of it being held so tight in the man's clasp but it looked important. Seriously important.

Athena examined it more closely and she was absolutely mortified to find that it was actually the engagement ring. Juniper's engagement ring, to be more specific.

Before following him, Athena looked up sadly to the sky above and she clasped her hands as if praying for a miracle.

_(Oh, Junie...just why is this happening on you and Apollo's special day...?)_

* * *

**A/N: Look, I know I said about the detention centre but I just hoped to get this chapter done because I was looking forwards to updating the story. **

**Next we see why Junie was arrested and we might even get to see more on the case. I hope I can update quicker this time around. **

**Please review.**

**-Chloemcg**


	5. Chapter four

**Disclaimer: The rights to Ace attorney belong to Capcom. I own nobody...maybe except for one or two characters in this story.**

**Turnabout Matrimony**

* * *

Phoenix Wright could feel the walls closing in on him as he, Athena and Apollo wandered down the imposing hallways of the detention centre and their minds were reeling to try and comprehend the reality of what was supposed to be a brilliant day for two good friends of the Wright anything agency, one of the two being an employee.

He now felt awkward that he was still dressed in a formal tuxedo and not in his usual blue suit but that wasn't even the first thing in his mind right now as he tried his best to find the cell which held Juniper Woods in so he, Athena and Apollo could have an interview with her.

Making a bee-line for the cells, zig-zagging passed cell after cell, the ace attorney trio stopped right in front of a window which had a saddened Juniper Woods stood behind it.

The walls looked dank and dark whilst the glass covering the wall was kept crystal clear by regular cleaning.

Seeing the woman, Athena and Phoenix felt their hearts break.

The poor woman looked positively heartbroken. Juniper's facial makeup was smeared because of the tears she cried, her veil was filthy and somewhat tattered, her dress was even more so due to being unable to change her outfit due to all that had happened.

Sniffling with tears watering in her eyes, Junie wiped a few stray tears away with the corner of her sleeve as she coughed lightly.

Apollo felt the worst about Juniper's confinement.

Phoenix didn't need Athena's special sense of hearing to hear the sadness in Apollo's heart and it made him feel horrible. He could sense his understudy's unease as he stood there with his shoulders slightly bunched up, clearly signifying he was just a tad tense due to seeing his lover behind some cold steely glass wall.

Junie seemed positively filled with grief and who could blame her?

Her grandmother was killed during their wedding ceremony and she was blamed for the crime! It just couldn't be true, the flower maiden just wasn't capable if doing such horrible dastardly deeds!

The three attorneys stared at the crying woman for several moments, feeling huge amounts of sympathy towards the poor bride-to-be. Juniper shouldn't be here...

But, it was then that Juniper finally noticed the presence of her visitors "O-oh! Hello..."

She perked up a bit, probably trying to put on a brave face for her husband-to-be. Juniper hurriedly wiped her face with a sleeve from her gown and she sniffled as she tried to blink the tears out of her red and puffy eyes whilst she shuffled nervously on the spot.

Athena smiled sadly at her friend and greeted back "H-Hey, Junie...are you okay?"

That was, in hindsight, a dumb question to ask. Of course she wasn't alright! She had been ripped away from her loved ones when she really should have been celebrating the most important day of her life with Apollo by her side.

She must have been in emotional agonising pain that made her heart scream itself hoarse with heartache.

Juniper let loose a few coughs, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle them.

Her coughing sounded pretty chesty and her weak voice sounded strained as if she had been forcing herself to speak through a tightened throat all this time.

"I...I-I'm fine...I'm perfectly f-fine..." She said, her voice trembling as she looked her three visitors right in the eyes. She looked very frightened, however. One look at her face would show that she had been crying her eyes out in her alone time and the fact that she was looking exhausted showed that questioning was rough on her, it looked as if Payne had shown her no mercy...

Juniper looked right at Apollo whom looked right back at her with a small reassuring smile as he placed his palm against the glass separating them. Apollo seemed to be trying to be strong for her sake, although Phoenix was concerned about how both of them weren't properly letting go of their feelings.

Apollo continued to put on a brave face as he smiled softly "That's good, Juniper, that's very good. Don't forget that I believe in you, you didn't do anything wrong..."

Phoenix and Athena were surprised to hear the spiky-fringed attorney use such a soft tone in contrast to his louder voice which he normally used. He never spoke so compassionately to anybody like this, maybe he used this calming method just for Junie because its a fact of life that love could bring out so many differences in a man.

Apollo was no exception.

Phoenix cleared his throat awkwardly, grabbing everyone's attention as he did so.

"Juniper, if its alright we have some questions to ask." He said, speaking lightly and casually as he did.

He adjusted his crooked bow tie and contemplated his questions carefully, straightening his posture out so he could look professional despite being formally dressed and ready to watch a wedding. He dusted off his tuxedo in hopes of trying to get rid of his nerves and control them a bit as he stood there and tried not to fidget with his tie.

Junie nodded her head in agreement, ready to hear whatever inquiries that the blue-wearing attorney had to ask of her.

Phoenix started off by asking calmly "So, can you tell us about your grandma?"

Juniper looked down, saddened. She looked as if that question had hit her in a sensitive place in her heart which it probably did, seeing as her grandmother had just died and all. However she tried to keep the grief out of her soft voice as she looked up at her visitors.

Lazily twirling a particularly springy lock of her muddy-coloured brown hair around her finger, she started to speak "After my parents died in a car accident when I was little, my grandma took me in and raised me for all these years. She taught me everything I knew about gardening and anything I ever knew about everything..."

"I just can't believe she's gone."

Junie blinked back the tears watering in her eyes and she forced a smile to her weakening lips as she readied herself for more questions, unaware of the equal amount of despair that Apollo was probably feeling. She softly grasped at her wrist and closed her eyes softly before reopening them and looking Athena square in the face.

Athena smiled softly, trying to be strong for Junie despite her knowing exactly how much pain her best friend was in.

"So might I ask why you're the main suspect?" She asked, cocking her head to one side as her brows knitted together in confusion. This question had bothered her from the very beginning and it was one she that continued to repeat itself over and over again inside her mind whenever she thought back to the case.

The fact that the arrogant jerk, Gaspen Payne, took Junie away without rhyme or reason was despicable and she actually sensed a bit of smugness in him and the fact that he was feeling pleased about it made her want to punch him. In the face.

Repeatedly.

Athena knew why prosecutor Payne was feeling that way too. During that courthouse bombing trial a few years back, Payne really got on to Junie and frightened her when he started to badger her so much when he tried to get her to admit to her so-called crimes.

It was a memory that Athena didn't wish to relive and it was one that Apollo almost go to the Prosecutors office to smack Payne whenever he re-watched the trial on video; both Phoenix and Trucy spent hours convincing the spiky-fringed lawyer to not beat the guy senseless for terrifying his girlfriend and Athena wanted to actually go with him with some popcorn to watch the show.

Both of them cleaned the toilets for three weeks afterwards and read courtroom manners 101 as punishment.

Anyways, snapping back to the present, Athena and Phoenix listened as Juniper replied to the question by saying "I d-don't know how but my fingerprints wound up on the m-murder weapon, a blade of some kind!"

The flower maiden coughed a few times, clearly becoming stressed. But then her coughs died down and gave way for the inevitable sniffling and sobbing as she started to cry, her strength finally failing as she buried her face in her hands.

"I-I-I also had a fight with my g-g-grandma a f-few months ago! I was angry a-at her because she didn't quite a-a-approve of m-me marrying Apollo!"

Phoenix and Athena were surprised, Apollo especially.

Maple Woods disliked Apollo? Or maybe it wasn't Apollo she hated but maybe it was the law she didn't quite like...

Their theory was confirmed once Juniper explained through her tears whilst she was wiping her eyes with the corners of the sleeves of her ivory wedding gown which was slightly dirty from the transition from church to detention centre.

"G-Granny didn't like the law e-ever since I was accused back a few years ago...she hated anything to do with law s-s-since then."

It was then she broke down into tears with her body convulsed and shivered, wracking with violent trembles as she sobbed her poor heart out. This was the second time she cried so hard today and honestly, nobody could put any fault on her...especially not her fiancé who only watched with a heart-broken frown etched on his face.

So Payne had a motive and he had evidence to place Juniper as the main suspect: this wasn't looking good for the girl now, not at all.

Apollo placed his hand against the glass, hoping it would reach Juniper somehow in a touch, and he tried to comfort her "C-C'mon, Juniper...d-don't cry...please, don't cry..."

The poor man sounded like his Chords of steel could just about crack from despair. His eyes were wide and transfixed on poor Junie's tearful face as her eyes were red and puffy and more tears gushed down her cheeks and, as the bulky tears trailed down her cheeks relentlessly, Apollo found himself biting his lower lip to keep himself from doing the same and looking like a wimp.

He instead looked off to the side and observed his partners faces.

Phoenix felt so sorry for Juniper, as did Athena. It was obvious that the poor woman was feeling heaps of sadness that her grandmother was gone and it kind of made their hearts break for her a lot more then they were already.

The air around the detention centre was suddenly weighted by the huge amount of sadness the bride felt. It felt like all the happiness that was there before was sucked dry and, now, it felt like the best time to let it all out.

Junie did as she wept herself dry.

Thankfully, Apollo had seemed to regain his composure as he started to softly stroke the glass and he used the most surprisingly soft and quiet tone he ever used -a tone clearly reserved just for Juniper and it appeared to have been customised just for this sort of situation.

He smoothed all signs of sadness from his voice and started to hush her softly.

"Hey, hey, hey...shhhh, its gonna be alright..." He crooned in an attempt to get Junie to stop crying.

Apollo started smiling a sincerely kind-hearted smile as he kept his palm pressed against the glass window "I promise you that I won't rest until you're out of there. I won't ever let myself relax until you and I are back at the alter. When you get out of here, you and I are gonna have the wedding of our dreams..."

Apollo stared at Juniper's tear stained face dreamily with his smile flickering into a slight wider one "...You and I are gonna both say 'I do' and then we're gonna spend the rest of our lives together, alright?"

Juniper stopped crying and sniffled, trying to dry her eyes with her loose and saggy sleeves. She looked at her husband-to-be who had clearly gained a good hold of himself as he slowly pressed his head forwards and placed his forehead against the glass with his hand still pasted along the window separating the two lovers.

"You're going to be fine, Juniper. I love you more than life itself."

When he spoke these words, Juniper smiled sweetly and genuinely as she too pressed her forehead against the glass and put her hand on the window too so her hand would be pressed on his.

The two lovers exchanged a loving gaze for what felt like the longest time, time seemingly slowing to a complete stop for them as they stayed in their adoring embrace.

Athena and Phoenix couldn't help but watch, their spirits lifted by Apollo's declaration and calming words. Clearly Apollo had found a way to get a hold of his emotions and found a way to remedy Juniper's hurt just like he did at Solomon Starbuck's trial long ago.

The two lawyers smirked at each other before Athena stepped forwards and spoke up with a confident smile.

"Don't worry, Junie, we will make that dream a reality! We won't rest until you and Apollo are back in that church!" She exclaimed, beaming with confidence.

Phoenix picked up, supported by this wave of determination that was now flowing through the whole cell "Yeah! We'll defend you in court and we'll find out the truth, we swear!"

Junie finally broke away from Apollo's embrace and giggled, smiling tearfully as she wiped some stray tears away with her sleeves. She was clearly feeling better and much more happier then she was mere minutes ago and she looked at the trio with an apologetic shimmer flashing inside her eyes.

"I...I'm still sorry about this..." She sighed.

Athena chuckled, flashing her friend a peace sign as well as a confident grin "Don't be! the maid of honour and the first selected groomsman, Phoenix Wright, are on the case!"

Juniper smiled. She was at least a bit more at ease with the comfort of knowing that she couldn't be in safer hands when it came to defence. While she was still confused as to why somebody had killed her grandmother and to a few more queries that played in her mind, she was much more relaxed.

She found herself gratefully bowing at Phoenix, Athena and Apollo as she was slowly being escorted away by a nearby guard who came forwards to lead the bride away for further questioning.

"Thanks for looking out for me, guys, I'll see you later..." She waved goodbye to them, leaving the trio alone in the hallway.

Phoenix smiled cheerfully, revitalised by the whole thing. Athena and Apollo stood in front of him attentively, standing as if ready for any command he could issue to them. They each gave army salutes as they were ready for any kind of command.

Smiling even wider, the spiky-haired ace attorney watched as Athena asked "Alright, boss, what do we do now?"

Phoenix replied confidently "Why don't we go and put our evidence in order in the court record back at the agency, then we can see what we can do for tomorrow."

Athena nodded, Apollo did too. That sounded like a good plan if they ever heard one! Now they could get ready to try and make that dream for that dream wedding a reality and they vowed to never stop until their dream was achieved...or at least the dream of Apollo and Junie.

That wedding was going to happen, Phoenix promised.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter of Turnabout Matrimony! **

**Wow, I am impressed with myself. But I hate that I had to do it whilst I had a tummy ache..again. I'm proud of how it turned out, regardless, and now we get to start with the proper trial. **

**Let's see where this goes, shall we? **

**Please review.**

**-Chloemcg**


	6. Chapter five

**Disclaimer: The rights to Ace attorney belong to Capcom. I own nobody...maybe except for one or two characters in this story.**

**Turnabout Matrimony**

* * *

Phoenix sighed as he paced around the courtroom lobby with a look of slight worry on his face, his thoughts buzzing like bees in a hive.

Today was the day, the first day of the trial that would decide the fate of Apollo and Juniper's relationship and future. It was a day that had been on the attorney's mind non-stop since that fateful day at the church, it was a day that almost made Phoenix shudder from worry:

The trial of Junie.

Thankfully, Trucy had convinced Apollo to not join the defence team in this one. Phoenix and Athena felt that this case would have been too close to the red clad attorney, not only that but he would probably have been blinded by his emotions should he have taken being the lead of the defence.

Trucy had decided to help keep Polly distracted for the time being, it can't have been the easiest task but Phoenix had trust that his daughter could come up with something.

Phoenix combed his spiky hair with a hand, feeling the stress pile up like a stack of books falling on top of each other. His face was starting to become encased in a thick layer of sweat and he even felt his jaw tightening as his teeth started to chatter. He didn't know if it was from the cold or if it was from how nervous he was becoming.

But then, making the ace attorney jump, a chirpy voice called out towards him in a singing tone more than a exclamation "Morning, Mr. Wright~"

Phoenix whirled on his feet to see Athena who had somehow managed to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed despite the promises of the difficult trials that would more than likely lie ahead.

She wore a very big smile on her face as she merrily skipped over towards her mentor, ignorant to the less-than-happy atmosphere in the room and she even grinned from ear-to-ear upon reaching him.

Phoenix actually thought that Athena would have been a bit more anxious but he needed all the optimism he could get so he didn't bother complaining, it would have been stupid to moan anyway.

"Morning, Athena! Did you get a goodnights sleep?" The spiky-haired attorney asked.

Athena nodded cheerily in response as she gave Phoenix a big thumbs up. She also lifted her shoulders in a shrug as she replied nonchalantly "Meh, I slept fine."

Even though there were very faint dark rings around her eyes, it proved that she didn't sleep as well as she was claiming but Phoenix decided to leave that issue alone since it didn't matter now that the trial was going to start soon. Phoenix knew that he had to stay focused or else doom this trial and that was something he could NOT do, no matter how bleak the circumstances looked!

He wasn't about to let Apollo nor Juniper down!

The yellow-wearing attorney sighed and asked her boss "You're nervous, aren't you?"

Phoenix didn't answer as he simply sat down on the sofa and buried his face in his hands. He took in a deep breath and then exhaled, blowing out a massive sigh, as he tried not to let it be known that he was more nerve-wracked than ever. This was a trial with so much weight depending on it that it rivalled even Matt Engarde's trial.

He didn't wish to upset his protégé, though, so he looked back up at her and put on the best smile he could...but it wasn't fooling Athena.

The young lady simply furrowed her brows at the older adult and gave him a very skeptical glower as she supportively patted his strong shoulder "Boss...It's okay to be nervous; there is a lot on stake for this trial, and everything."

Phoenix simply scratched the back of his head "I know, I know. I'm just feeling the pressure." He then spared a grin at Athena "I'm glad that Ms. Woods isn't here to see me as a nervous wreck..."

"I don't think you're a wreck, Mr. Wright..."

Jumping but not screaming, both attorney's whirled in the direction of the new voice and discovered that their client, Juniper Woods, was standing before them with a somber smile etched on her face.

But there was something about her that looked somewhat broken.

Her eyes were bloodshot and glassy, her skin was pale, her hair was slightly matted and unkept. Her soft-spoken voice was hoarse and strained, clearly raw from all the crying she had undoubtably done during her many hours of confinement. Even though she had been in prison for a day she looked like she had been locked up for months, maybe even years.

Juniper was probably in so much pain from her wedding being ruined, and not only that but her grandmother being killed and her being accused for said killing.

Athena looked like she was about to cry when her eyes lain upon her best friend, all former enthusiasm gone as she felt her heart break for her best friend.

She wanted to run over to juniper and hug her but she knew she had to do what was best and try and get some faith back into those shattered eyes.

She smiled softly at Junie and gently lowered her hand to rest it on Juniper's shoulder "D-Don't worry, we'll get you back with Apollo before you can say "objection!"...Ain't that right, Mr. Wright?"

Phoenix perked up when he heard his name and heard and he found himself looking into the dejected eyes of his client. He knew he had to perk up, he was probably spreading some depression into the courtroom lobby and he decided to try and be happier. He couldn't have his co-council/student and client being so down, that just would not do in the slightest.

The attorney in blue slowly stood up from the sofa and went to console the two young ladies with a very soft smile stretching on his lips.

"Yes...that's right..." He said, walking over to Athena and Juniper and he even took on the tone of a comforting father whom started to soothe his children when they were terrified. Being a father to Trucy proved to have been invaluable in court since he had learnt to be more empathetic to children and how they were feeling, just what kind of man would he be if he would not care for a young lady who needed some comfort?

Gripping gently on to Junie's shoulders, Phoenix tried reassuring the young bride-to-be. He looked her right in the eye and he put in a lot of sympathy in his voice. He didn't want to let the young woman nor Apollo down.

"I know that what happened yesterday was shocking but I promised that I would get both you and Apollo back on that alter. I will try my best to get you acquitted, but you have to trust me. Can you do that?"

Juniper frowned as if dwelling on the older attorney's words.

A small light returned to her fudge brown orbs as she glanced down timidly at her feet and she seemingly pondered on what had just been said to her, she wanted nothing more than to go and start her new life with Apollo. She wanted him to hold her in his arms and rest her head against his chest to hear the sweet soothing thumps of his strong heart, she wanted to hear the symphony of his heart lull her to sleep like a lullaby.

But Juniper knew that the only way to achieve that dream was to trust Mr. Wright and Athena and she could do that without a problem.

Thena was her best friend and both she and Phoenix previously defended her during that bombing case and she knew that they could be trusted with her life.

So, wiping some stray tears, the nodded and managed a small but heartfelt smile "Al-Alright...I trust you." She smiled at both Athena and Phoenix, hope beginning to shine in her eyes again as her look of heart-breaking depression had melted and made way for a much more faithful expression as she smiled a little.

But then came the announcement of the trial commencing and, with looks of determination, the trio marched right into the courtroom with their heads looking straight towards the future.

* * *

The court room was full of the constant chatter and gossip of the civilians that lounged about in the gallery benches, their individual conversations being lost in the ocean of rambling and constant blathering which had bred and multiplied like dust collecting on a single long since unused piece of furniture.

The pair of attorney's hadn't expected such an enormity of the public to be present and a huge lot of them just so happened to have been present at the wedding yesterday.

There was a unanimously ceaseless twittering that chirped in the attorney's, the defendants and the prosecution, Gaspen Payne's ears. They almost had to cover their ears but they fought off the overwhelming urge to do so as they simply decided to focus and wait for the trial to actually begin.

Phoenix and Athena stood behind the defence bench readily, their eyes narrowed determinedly at Prosecutor Gaspen Payne who was taking this quick time before the trial to chew on a toothpick and poke at some leftover greenery that had become stuck in between some of his teeth, looking into a mirror whilst doing this.

The attorney's and the prosecution were awaiting the judge to get himself ready for the court proceedings to begin.

He was running a little bit late, actually.

The poor judge had, apparently, been bustling around and he even had a couple of rambunctious grandchildren to take after. Of course nobody knew if this was true or not since the judge's life didn't bother them very much, except for Phoenix sympathising with the judge considering that his own office was overrun by two teenage girls and a young man whose voice could break windows.

He even had nightmares of tiny children running rampant in his office one day and that frightened him.

So, looking at Athena, Phoenix asked "Athena, you have any ideas who the witnesses are?"

Athena furrowed a brow and shook her head "Your guess is as good as mine."

The blue and yellow duo didn't say a word after this. They just stood there, trying to keep their eyes away from Payne picking at his teeth. Apparently Prosecutor Payne had sorted his cards and was ready to dish out all he had, even though Athena was sort of like an angry Pitbull by the way she sneered at the pompous prosecutor and was basically held back by the collar of her jacket.

The duo didn't want to have the unpleasant man standing opposite them reopen some very painful emotional wounds while awaiting a trial that was this important and they knew that Gaspen would more than likely enjoy seeing the young woman squirm with pain and when that happened, he would more than likely end up with more than a few injuries...by the hand of a certain red head.

Poor Juniper...she would probably be emotionally slaughtered up on that stand but Phoenix knew that he and Athena were going to protect her and use whatever legal methods they could to defend the young lady. Athena, especially; she wasn't going to allow Junie to get hurt while she was around.

The defence duo simply watched the judge bench for any sign of the old man in robes and, honestly, waiting for him like this was getting unbelievably boring. It was like watching paint dry and they even had to imagine more of how this trial was going to go, they didn't do much investigating yesterday but they knew that they could do anything as long as they used their heads.

But then, all of a sudden, the judge hobbled up the stairs towards the judge's podium but he was looking quite horrible. He looked more decrepit then normal and he also looked like he hadn't slept properly for weeks. His eyes were heavy and he would groan with each and every step he took and his hand was pressed against his back.

Even though his eyes held a sense of good natured cheer, unless it was serious.

It seemed that all those years had finally been catching up...

Phoenix, Athena, Juniper and Payne all held their breaths in preparation; the trial that would change two lives was about to start and nobody knew where it was going, yet they had all hope that wherever the trail leads then it would be a turning point of either good nor bad.

Each of their eyes flickered like candlelit flames as they each braced themselves for the beginning of the trial.

Never had any of them felt so ready in their lives, especially Phoenix who had sworn with every fibre of his being that he would reunite Apollo and Juniper together and settle this once and for all.

The spiky-haired ace attorney smirked determinedly and thought to himself _(This is it; time to settle this once and for all!)_

"A-Ahem..." The judge promptly cleared his throat "We shall now commence with the trial of Juniper Woods."

* * *

**A/N: Well, we finally get to the beginning of the trial and I can't wait to show you where this leads but if I take awhile to update this then don't think I have abandoned it because that's not it, it's just my tummy being mean and me not having the motivation to properly write.**

**But I hope you liked this chapter.**

**Lets see where this leads, shall we?**

**Reviews would be very much appreciated.**

**-Chloemcg**


	7. Chapter six

**Disclaimer: The rights to Ace attorney belong to Capcom. I own nobody...maybe except for one or two characters in this story.**

**Turnabout Matrimony**

* * *

**BANG!**

All the people in court were in chattering and murmuring loudly amongst themselves before the Judge slammed his gavel down on the surface of his podium and the single loud ear-splitting "bang" it made was a sound that reverberated throughout the whole courtroom and left a lingering echo in its wake. The smooth ceilings and walls somehow kept the echo contained within the room and it made certain that any noise would stay confined within.

Upon hearing the sound everybody fell silent. The crowd had ceased making even a peep while they stared anxiously at the judge whom had been seated behind the podium, the podium seemed quite high and intimidating and even more so with the old man perched behind it. But despite the high bench, the old man seemed quite friendly as he always did.

Yet he seemed to have his gaze fixed on both the defence and the prosecution below.

Phoenix and Athena were all set as they stood behind their bench and awaited for the Judge to begin speaking and hear the opening statement from prosecutor Gaspen Payne.

The smug man standing behind the bench opposite them was smoothing his tie down with a very tight smirk wound on his face, he appeared to have assumed an awfully boastful and self-assured position as he stood behind his bench with a good stack of files neatly set aside and ready to be presented. The two defence attorneys couldn't hold back their own icy cold glares as they tried to quickly gather their thoughts before they started to go down with their ship of potential despair and probable underprepared-bluffing.

The judge gruffly cleared his throat and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes.

Phoenix's wiry brows creased with concern "Um...are you alright, your honour?"

The Judge yawned and nodded tiredly "I am perfectly fine, Mr. Wright...I...I just stayed up a bit late last night watching dramatic television programs..."

Phoenix and Athena sent cursory glances to each other; they knew that the fickle old judge was truly getting along in his years and it sounded just like him to stay up all night like he was a mischievous teen disobeying curfews. But they were happy to hear that he was alright.

After recollecting his thoughts, the judge raised his gavel and smacked it down on the surface of the podium.

Hard.

"Now, before we begin, let's hear the opening statement."

Prosecutor Payne nodded his head obediently in the judge's direction before he assumed a pompous posture and proceeded to talk everybody through what had transpired a mere day ago.

"It all occurred yesterday in the local church where the bride-to-be, or should I say _defendant—" _He took this chance to cast a withering glare towards a cowering Juniper "—was walking down the aisle where the groom was awaiting her,"

Phoenix couldn't help but pick up the obvious sneer in Payne's tone, he could only imagine how much Athena noticed it because he saw how hacked-off she was becoming as she seethed silently where she stood; the rage was crystal clear on her facial features. He didn't have Athena's special sense of hearing, but if he did he was certain that her rage would be at a fever pitch.

The judge looked at the prosecutor curiously whilst quirking a wrinkly ivory brow at him. "And, if you don't mind me asking, who was the groom?"

Prosecutor Payne wore a straight face and paused for a moment before answering.

"...Apollo Justice,"

The judge seemed shocked to hear this, his eyes bulged in their sockets and he wore a dumbstruck expression on his old yet wise face. He was so surprised that even his snow white beard bristled in response to the information he had just heard. His expression then turned from shock to hurt within the timespan of five seconds.

"WHAT! Apollo Justice was actually getting married and no one thought to invite me?"

The disappointment was very clear in the judge's tone, he looked sadly down at his feet as his facial expression betrayed how hurt he was by not receiving an invitation. Athena then turned her head to face the spiky-haired lawyer stood next to her, her bright blue eyes pooling with tears of shame and sympathy once taking a listen to the judge's heart. "Aww, I feel so bad for his honour..."

Phoenix now felt kind of awful, if he had known that the judge wanted to attend the wedding then he would have sent one. He just didn't think the judge would even want to come considering that there was the possibility that he could have been busy or something with court proceedings and stuff. After seeing the sullen expression on the old man's face, he felt his heart break a little.

Then he shook his head quick to snap himself out of it.

They had a trial to win!

Gaspen Payne had watched the scene with growing irritation and impatientce. as he folded his arms moodily across his chest in a sulk, then he promptly cleared his throat aloud to bring the main focus back to himself. His sunglasses glimmered angrily in the light.

"AHEM! If I could please be allowed to continue..."

Everybody silenced themselves and all eyes in the room snapped back to the pompous prosecutor and everyone watched whilst he smoothed his tie and cleared his throat a second time, albeit more calmly and it seemed to be more for preparing himself and less for regaining everyone's attention this time.

Payne resumed saying his piece.

"As I was saying -just before the two could make their vows, a family member had burst into the room and announced what had befallen Mrs. Maple Woods, the defendant's grandmother and guardian," Payne lowered his head as though he were genuinely saddened, "and when we reached the scene we saw the defendant knelt in front of the victim whom was stabbed to death by an unknown murder weapon."

Everyone in the gallery hung on Payne's every word and started muttering although they each had a variety of reactions. Some of the people shook their heads in disgust, others reacted angrily at hearing such a barbaric deed; regardless it appeared that everybody who was in attendance didn't like the sound of what had happened to the elderly lady. Heck, a very few people were even scowling darkly at poor Junie.

That hardly gone unnoticed by the terrified bride-to-be, though, as she glanced downward and hid behind the stand as though to hide herself from those glaring faces...and it didn't go unnoticed by her two defence attorneys.

Athena looked worriedly to her boss. "M-Mr. Wright, I can hear the hostility in the hearts of the people in the gallery..."

(**_And I can feel it_**...) Phoenix thought in agreement.

The emotions were very easy to read off of the people in the gallery, it felt like a dark aura in the courtroom and it almost made the ace attorney in blue falter at the unease that swarmed in the atmosphere. He tried not to let the unease show on his face as he grit his teeth and bared on through it whilst he took a moment to smile reassuringly at Juniper in hopes to coax her out of hiding a little bit.

Junie did seem to spot that smile and weakly smiled back at him for a moment.

Then the judge started to speak and asked an obvious question.

"You don't know what the murder weapon was?"

Payne shook his head in response. "No, your honour, we're still having the detectives go through the church searching as we speak, we suspect that the weapon was taken from the crime scene."

Phoenix absorbed this new information into his brain. A missing murder weapon, that sounded both intriguing and strange since normally criminals leave the murder weapon at the scene unless this a carefully executed killing, but there was something off about that statement. Something he couldn't place his finger on, yet he didn't have much time to swell on that detail since the judge had decided to go right ahead and speak whilst he raised his gavel.

"Mr. Wright, do you have any thoughts on this?"

The spiky-haired lawyer looked at the judge and truthfully shook his head. "No, your honour."

The judge seemed shocked. "Wait a second...you don't?"

Phoenix shook his head slowly. "No. Why? Is there a problem?"

The judge looked at Phoenix with a dumbstruck yet utterly perplexed expression on his face, his jaw went slack. The barbed-headed attorney would normally make an objection to the prosecution's statements right about now! This was kind of unusual since the man looked even neutral about it. Even Athena looked stunned to hear that!

The judge looked as though he had been sucking a lemon for a long few moments before he finally rediscovered his voice and continued to speak after a moment of awkward silence.

"Uh, erm, um, alright then..."

Payne seemed too glad to proceed and took this unimportant subject end as his cue to continue onward with the opening statement. He plucked a random piece of paper from his desk and held it up for everyone to see, especially for Phoenix and Athena. The paper was but a plain white sheet with scribbles of writing and neatly-scribed sentences that looked awfully well written and detailed.

"Distinguished members of the jury!" He exclaimed, trying to sound ultimately dramatic with this nerdy and uncool flare following him "I consider this as definitive proof of the defendant's guilt; an little piece of paper found in the defendant's room describing some interesting things."

Still Phoenix said not a word, he just looked on patiently as if he were waiting for something to happen.

Athena looked at him with an astonished expression; why wasn't he saying anything, why was he looking like a predator awaiting for the perfect opportunity to strike his prey? She didn't say anything but she was certainly confused of what he was waiting for exactly. She narrowed her eyes and her frown stiffened while she tried to visually discern what her boss was doing.

Payne's twittering voice faded a bit in the background, although the lawyer in yellow listened closely.

"It describes how Maple Woods was to perish by the time the wedding ceremony was to take place, and it also includes...uuugggh..." the pompous prospector blanched and he suddenly turned a vibrant shade of pale green. "...s-s-some disturbingly graphic and gory content,"

Athena was a bit green in the face after hearing that. She shuddered inwardly when the implications of that "disturbingly graphic and gory content" could possibly be made her intestines started to crawl and turn at such a thought. Her head swayed when merely thinking of it. She tried to shake it off and she hugged her own arms as though a sudden chill crept into the courtroom, preying on her sanity.

In the meantime, Phoenix appeared to be mildly put off by this too. He looked as pale as a sheet but he took some calming breaths as though to calm himself and keep himself from vomiting. The spiky haired lawyer continued to do naught but observe regardless of being greatly sickened.

Snapping herself out of it, the ginger lawyer in yellow slammed her hand on the surface of the bench and cut Payne off.

"Someone could've just planted that in Junie's bedroom, y'know!"

The arrogant prosecutor just grinned wickedly as a sharp glance was whisked her way and he said to her with a sickeningly patronisingly honeyed tone, all while he curled his fringe in his hair with a finger. "Hush, little girl, and let the grownup finish."

That comment angered the young lady; she had been angry so many times before this and never had it been too bad...but if somebody made fun of her then she would be an out-of-control beast that nobody could tame. Athena's face twisted into a deep dark scowl of fury and widget turned a violent red colour and she got ready to rip out the insufferable man's throat with her fingernails alone.

She started to shriek out aggressively "Why you pig-headed—!"

Thankfully, Phoenix had finally stepped in before Athena could seize the chance to run over and rip Gaspen Payne's smug face off.

"**HOLD IT**!"

The spiky-haired attorney's voice was like a sonic boom of sound, it was like the cymbal of thunder in the midst of a calm storm. The sound of his calm yet brass voice bounced off the ceiling and walls and crated a reverberation of sound. He stood as proud as a lion when it had sunk its teeth into its freshly-killed prey. Everybody was silent as a funeral pall hung in the air of the court.

It felt like hours before the ace attorney opened his mouth and talked.

"Mr. Payne...would you mind showing us all of the evidence you've found?"

Payne seemed astonished, it was as though he hadn't a clue as to where he was for a minute. His posture was frozen in time and his facial expression portrayed pure surprise; however he quickly recovered and his lips formed into a very sardonic smile.

He pulled out all his cards on the table and produced a piece of evidence one-by-one, each and every little bit of evidence had been sealed in a little transparent plastic bag: there was a blood-soaked rose broach, a little damp piece of card, a half-broken ornament, the victim's autopsy report folder, a strangely eerie newspaper clipping, a lone photograph of the original crime scene, and a crimson/prune-stained tear of golden fabric.

Prosecutor Payne shoved the autopsy report over to Phoenix, and the attorney in blue then proceeded to pick up the folder and then started to read the details on the report; "_Victim died instantly of stab wound through the heart and blood loss, had elevated blood pressure due to stress and panic_."

The judge gave a nod of his bald head and declared, "All of this shall be submitted as evidence."

Upon lifting his eyes, Phoenix looked to Athena. The young lady looked at him quizzically with her frown being forced as down as it could possibly go. One of her thin eyebrows was furrowed and the other was raised in an arch, big blue eyes were overflowing with curiosity and it was obvious that she wanted to know about why he didn't say much for awhile there.

The ace attorney cleared his throat and subtly leaned towards his student, murmuring his explanation for staying quiet for so long discreetly into her ear; "I figured that since we didn't have much evidence to begin with, other than that glove, then maybe I could be silent and let Payne sing like a canary."

Athena now understood why her boss was so silent at least and she now felt happy to be enlightened, even though she'd have preferred a warning first or else she wouldn't have cut the information gathering off. She looked shamefully downwards, feeling kind of guilty, but the older spiky-haired man placed his hand on her head and then proceeded to tussle her hair playfully under his palm reassuringly, only to remove it seconds later.

Little did either of the two lawyers realise that the judge hadn't finished his sentence. He spoke in a calm and all around neutral tone of voice and his wise old eyes focused solely on the two defence attorneys stood at the bench. His cloudy eyes closed for a moment before he reopened them to give his own opinion on the matter.

"The piece of paper does seem like definitive evidence of the accused's guilt."

"**HOLD IT!**"

Athena abruptly cut in.

She raised her hand high as though she were about to ask a question to her school teacher in front of her whole class and she looked hard at prosecutor Payne, her beautiful sapphire blue eyes gleaming with hard determination. She seemed so calm and composed, she knew that her time to shine was now as she went ahead fearlessly and exclaimed to the prosecutor.

"B-But wait! What about a motive?"

For a moment, prosecutor Payne looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

Then that moment ended -that arrogantly obnoxious smile never left his lips as he tapped his toupee and picked up and started to pat that newspaper article in an almost taunting gesture, sending a very sharp smile over towards a distressed Juniper whom was coughing and suddenly looking mortified as the Prosecutor started to reveal what info that newspaper would certainly hold.

It was obvious to everyone that Junie didn't want anyone to know. Her skin turned from pale from sickly green within seconds and she subconsciously gripped her wrist whilst bowing her head and closing her eyes with sweat dripping relentlessly down her face. Her lips were tightly sealed into a frightened frown and her chest was violently thumping as though coughs were building up inside and were literally bursting to get out.

Phoenix was concerned. What was going on?

Junie pleaded through a desperate and meek tone. "No...d-don't read th-that, please, I'm begging y-you!"

"I ask this court to turn its attention to this 23-year-old article from the news paper. I do believe that this should bring a much more clearer motive to light..." He began, ignoring the poor wish-to-be-judge/bride-to-be's pleas and cries of mercy.

Neither Phoenix or Athena knew precisely why but they both felt seriously ill when Payne had brought out that old newspaper article as it made their stomachs twist into loops and corkscrews and they could feel their throats clog up.

Just what was Prosecutor Payne trying to imply?

Why was Junie so afraid of Payne disclosing what truths that piece of paper held?

Why were they getting the feeling that this was going to damage their case?

Finally after a few long painstakingly seconds, Payne presented the newspaper clipping and showed its contents for the whole entire courtroom to see.

"The victim had been suspected of killing the defendant's parents all those years ago!"

The Prosecutor exclaimed whilst wearing a very dark gleeful expression on his face. He seemed to have been enjoying this moment very much, despite the remorse he shown at the wedding and when talking of grandma Woods.

The gallery went nuts as they broke into loud chatters of shock and gossip.

Junie's eyes welled up with tears and her lower lip quivered as she tried not to break down because of that outlandish accusation. Her hands trembled as she gripped on tight to the edges of the defendant's bench whilst she yelled out with a pained tone behind her every word.

"N-N-NOOO! M-MY GRANDMA WOULD NEVER—!" She started to shout in her meek tone, her eyes overflowing with tears which started to cascade in rivulets down her chalk white cheeks. She was cut off by a serious fit of coughing which sounded so wheezy and painful to listen to. She was obviously in a right state now as she gripped on tight to the stand and tried to clear her system.

Prosecutor Payne, knowing that he had another opening of attack, continued "During the Investigation all those years ago, an igniter was found inside the remains of the car belonging to Mr. Bramble Woods and Mrs. Amber Woods -an igniter with the victim's fingerprints on it!"

Juniper broke down into sobs right there on the stand as she wept loudly and solemnly.

Whilst the bride-to-be cried to herself, the crowd sat in the gallery loudly murmured their opinions to each other, it didn't take long until it all broke into a racket, the gossip bred and multiplied like a germ infestation.

They continued to chatter in loud tones whilst Prosecutor Payne folded his arms with a huge grin fixed on his lips. He seemed pleased that he had managed to break the bride-to-be and that only increased the fuming anger of the duo who stood at her defence.

"Heh. This should be more than enough for a motive," Payne looked up and across to Juniper. "Now miss Woods, I can see that my thoughts of you all those years ago were well founded. I can't believe you would stoop so low and do the unthinkable on your very own wedding day...it must have been such a rush of bloodlust for you. To bring down the woman who raised you, and killed your parents!"

Phoenix and Athena swiftly looked over at each other. This situation had just suddenly spiralled out-of-control, thanks to Gaspen Payne. He probably played that card to try and rattle both the defence and the poor defendant! The fact that Payne resorted to such an underhanded trick had enraged both Phoenix and Athena.

The judge smacked his gavel down repeatedly on the podium, trying to regain some control after Payne had blown it all out of proportion.

"Order, order! I will have order in this court! Order!"

As the judge's cries for peace had fallen on deaf ears, all Phoenix and Athena could do was look at the scene with looks of pure disbelief on their faces. This trial had crumbled faster than a dried up gross apple crumble and the yellow and blue attorneys could hardly believe that Juniper's grandmother's murder was tied to the tragic death of her parents.

Out of all of it, they both knew one thing from all of this:

Things for Juniper's case had turned from "bad" to "worse".

* * *

**A/N: Hi, everyone! Sorry that it took so long to update this.**

**I have just been through some stuff so I can't update as frequently as I used to, so that's why I don't update as much anymore. But with AA 6 coming out soon (OMG, I CANT WAIT) I thought that I should update this so you guys don't have to hang anymore. Thanks for being so patient with me, btw.**

**Anyways, it seems that everything had gone bad thanks to the mean Prosecutor Payne whom seems pretty aggressive with poor Juniper. We also uncover a pretty deep secret about Juniper's parents and everything had slipped into chaos, can our two attorneys take back the reins?**

**Find out in the next chapter!**

**-Chloemcg**


End file.
